Archive for the ‘life’ Category
Toronto in 36 Hours
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010Virgin America gave me a free trip from San Francisco to Toronto to promote its new route with “top influencers” on Twitter, a status determined by Klout. This is an unexpected and very cool opportunity, but I need your help to make the most of it.
I’ll be visiting Toronto on the weekend of August 6-8. While it might seem crazy to spend 12 hours flying to spend 36 hours in a city, it’s going to make for a great story when I’m boring and 80. The only downside is that I’ll be traveling alone. My husband’s Klout score wasn’t high enough to earn a free ticket and we couldn’t justify the $900 fare.
Here’s where you come in: I haven’t been to Toronto since 1999. Tell me the best things to do, see, and eat. I want to pack as much Canadian goodness into my weekend as possible.
Wishing upon a star…
Sunday, April 4th, 2010
Of Mickey Mouse and This Man
My last day at The Walt Disney Company will be Monday, April 12, 2010. The 99 magical days will comprise the shortest period that I have ever had full time employment and the largest company that I have ever been employed by. I am excited, scared, and excited about my next career move: software engineer at Snowball Factory.
Big Details
I am moving to San Francisco the day after my last day at Disney. Arthur will be staying in Los Angeles for a few months while we find an apartment and make moving arrangements. I’ll be commuting home to LA on the weekends. Being away from Arthur will be the most difficult part of this big decision.
The Startup
Snowball Factory makes Awe.sm, a powerful social sharing analytics platform. I learned of it through Jonathan Strauss‘s presentation at BarCamp LA and immediately signed up Digital Dandelion to try it. It’s an impressive product that provides insights on how content is shared. I can’t wait to work on what’s next.
Of course, I might not have met Jonathan or learned of Awe.sm had it not been for its other cofounder, Laurie. He blogged about me in the Apple Switch commercial in 2002. We kept in touch online and finally met in real life in 2009. He’s smart, sassy, and awesome in general.
Attending Twitter’s developer conference, Chirp, will be one of my first acts of startup glory. Snowball Factory will also be throwing a Chirp preparty. Not a bad way to kick off an intense position!
(Snowball Factory is also seeking an incredible backend engineer who wants to work with emerging technologies like Hadoop, Hive, Redis, and Cassandra. More…)
Moving On Up
With this job, I will be bidding farewell to Los Angeles. I recently wrote a best friend that I always seem to discover a fondness for the place that I’m leaving as I’m leaving. This is oddly true for Los Angeles, a place that I never particularly liked and had no intention of staying in when I arrived. It grew comfortable over the last three years. Arthur and I have the most incredible condo-partment that we’d buy if we could. We have our favorite coffee shop, butcher, farmers’ market, and hikes. Most importantly, we have amazing friends in Los Angeles. I can’t put into words how I feel about leaving them. It’s too difficult.
Something about San Francisco stole both of our hearts on our first trip there. I hope that the charm we’ve felt on our last five trips there welcomes us when we become residents. Certainly, San Francisco offers the career opportunities that both of us haven’t found in Los Angeles. We’re picking the opportunity to grow over the comfortable certainty the start of the new year blessed us with. I hope it’s the right decision. I know it is. Regardless, it’s going to be an adventure.
Photo credit: San Francisco Bay Panorama by Kevin Collins CC BY 2.0
Be A Treasure Hunter
Friday, September 25th, 2009
I struggled with assumptive cynicism for much of my life. This is the gut reaction where you feel personally attacked when someone acts in a manner that seemingly is insulting or dismissive without substantial evidence that such an action was intended to hateful. My senior year of high school, my friend Adam Nolley featured a quote in a piece of his artwork that said, “Choose to not be offended.” This struck me because I never had thought of being offended (or any emotional reaction really) as a choice. It is.
When someone says something in a tone that seems negative or makes a decision that has negative consequences fo me, I try to take a moment to understand their perspective before reacting. I know this sounds simplistic, but it is something that I have had to practice to form a habit. In some circumstances, it’s just a miscommunication and not spite.
Even if the offending party was intentionally offensive, a negative response only escalates the offense. The preeminent How to Win Friends & Influence People changed how I negotiate everything in every moment of life. I try to read it at least once a year. Empathy is difficult, but Dale Carnegie’s techniques have helped me create understanding when I feel wronged and just don’t care.
I recently stumbled upon Twenty Life-Improving Principles. One principle jumped out at me: “Be a treasure hunter; consciously find (and appreciate) the good in your world.” I think that beautifully summarizes what I’ve said above and tried to practice for years. Treasure hunters know there is value to be found and that such a reward involves a journey. (I liked some of the other principles so much that I made a sign to hang by my desk.)
As I near the first anniversary of being married to my amazing husband, I’m reminded of the study “Predicting Divorce among Newlyweds from the First Three Minutes of a Marital Conflict Discussion” mentioned by Malcolm Gladwell in Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Researchers concluded that they could determine divorce probability by observing assumptive cynicism when a couple communicates:
“The biggest lesson to be learned from this study is that the way couples begin a discussion about a problem – how you present an issue and how your partner responds to you – is absolutely critical,” said Gottman. “Women need to learn how to soften their approach when they bring up a problem,” added Carrère, “and men have to learn how to be more accepting of what she’s saying.”
Finding the treasure in everyone in all situations is not possible, but you’ll end up a richer person the more you try.
How do you stay motivated to be a treasure hunter?
Header: Adapted from “Typcut #0002: Are You Happy?” by Alex Koplin and David Meiklejohn
So long Aptera. I hardly knew you.
Sunday, September 13th, 2009
Arthur and I are giving up our Aptera hybrid reservation 1,717 reluctantly. The decision did not come easily.
Aptera showed promise with its unique design and smart application of new technologies. Unfortunately, production delays and our impending move to northern California make our reservation worthless. As apartment renters, we knew we would never have the ability to run charging outlets to a parking garage, so we opted for the 2H (gas generator hybrid) model. Months after making our reservation, Aptera informed us that only the fully electric 2E model would be available initially. We were willing to wait because we still expected to be Aptera owners by Fall 2009. Today, there is still no Aptera 2E (electric only) ship date and even less information regarding the 2H. The requirement for reservations to be held by southern Californian residents is just a nudge out a door we were already leaving through.
We want a small, sexy car that drives well and gets great gas mileage for $30k or less. No auto maker has been able to deliver on this and it’s frustrating.
Aptera’s outlook doesn’t look optimistic. Major automakers will be shipping plug in hybrids by the time the 2H is available for a little more money without any compromises. We want Aptera to be the new American auto success story. Unfortunately, too many obstacles mean we won’t be able to contribute to it.
Header sunset photograph by Axel-D / CC BY 2.0.
Eulogy from the Unknown Grandson
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009I’m not sure what Arthur’s grandfather knew of me. Arthur and his family thought it best that we not explain to his grandfather that I was Arthur’s husband. I understood why and was okay with that. Certainly some of my informed family would have been better not knowing.
I knew Merton mostly through the stories his wife, Arthur’s grandmother, told of them. He was a World War II hero, lucky enough to see the victory from his and other brave men and women’s efforts. The memories of their early years together searching for work, raising a family, and pursuing happiness were told as optimistic, yet humbling, adventures pioneering an America that I’ve never known.
That’s the spirit that I saw in the brief encounters where we didn’t ask questions about why were sitting together.
He raised a great daughter and influenced a wonderful grandson and family that I’m now part of. Papaw, rest in peace.
Video: New Reality Show Centers on Unemployed
Saturday, August 15th, 2009Sneak peek at what I’ll be doing for the next six months. From FOX 10 News: New Reality Show Centers on Unemployed:
Video: Calaveras County Memorial Day Trip
Thursday, July 30th, 2009Keto edited a beautiful video postcard from our trip to Calaveras County in May 2009. She wrote:
Memorial Day Weekend 2009, me and Jeff Stewart bring our friends Arthur, Jeremiah, and Mark up to Jeff’s family’s cabin in Arnold, California.
We enjoy the peaceful beauty of the woods, the winding roads, and excellent wine tasting.
Calaveras County, May 2009 from Keto Shimizu on Vimeo.
Video: “Twitter Zombies”
Thursday, July 30th, 2009Arthur & I met up with @joePRguy a few weekends ago to make something “thrilling”. I experienced 118 degree weather for the first time and proved that I’m not a dancer. Why would I do such a thing? You’ll find out this fall!
Rejoinder for Android Released
Monday, June 15th, 2009My first mobile game, Rejoinder is now available in the Android Marketplace. Text ddapps to 368638 from your Google Android phone (like the T-Mobile G1) to get a direct download link.
Rejoinder is only 99¢ as a special introductory price. I’d love to know what you think about the game and a five star review in the Marketplace.
I will post more details on the design and development process, but I need to sleep for now.
Learning to Fly
Sunday, May 10th, 2009We’re all heading home now. In my body, there is buried some strange memory of learning to fly. It will lead me to the origin of me: prehistory. –Monarch by Matt Alber
I recently read that some classified documents would be unsealed in 50 years. I excitedly shared this news with an older friend. He replied, disinterested, “I won’t be around.”
Within the next two years, I will reach the age where, statistically, I won’t be around in 50 years. In some ways, I feel that I still haven’t accepted not being a college student. College was a period that I anticipated and fantasized about for a decade prior to experiencing it. It’s done. over. almost three years now. I dealt with a “quarter life crisis” shortly after graduating, but now I’m working on accepting that there is something to be excited about at 25 and 30 and 50 and beyond, which our culture doesn’t beat into us.
A few weeks ago, Arthur and I went to see Matt Albert in concert. He briefly talked about Monarch butterflies and how their migration takes several generations to complete. As one generation dies off, the next continues the journey.
I’m posting today because it would have been my mother’s 47th birthday had she not died of cancer at age 34. Knowing how much she has missed and not been able to look forward to at the ages that I’m creeping closer to is oddly assuring that there is so much to anticipate. I hope to live enough to pack two lifetimes in the years to come in her honor.
Written over a bowl of Kix. Kid tested. Mother approved.
